


Return to Sender

by lionessvalenti



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Episode s03e13 Will You Play With Me?, Gen, Gen Work, Women In Power
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 16:39:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14217339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: Fen has sent a hundred bunnies, but their messages all return unheard.





	Return to Sender

Fen sat at the table in the seat of the High King, picking at her breakfast, when a rabbit appeared next to her plate. Hope bloomed in her chest, for a moment, and when the rabbit spoke, it said only the last message she had sent.

"Eliot please. Come back."

The hope withered, as it did every time, but this time it crumbled into ash.

She had sent a hundred bunnies, first to Margo and Eliot, asking them what had happened, and when they would return. But the bunnies all came back, return to sender, parroting her message back to her. She tried again, sending them to Quentin, to Julia, to Josh, but no matter who she tried to contact, each one was returned to her, no reply.

It was what happened when there was no place for them to go.

The only rabbit that returned with a new message was the one she sent to Todd, who had no idea what had happened to them. They all disappeared. It had happened before to students who played in Fillory. What was new?

Fillory still had no magic, except through their alliances with the fairies. The quest, Fen assumed, had failed. Were they all dead? Was she a widow? She had a confidence as the acting High King, knowing that they were going to be there, that they would return, but now she was alone.

They weren't coming back. She knew it, her final desperate plea to Eliot still echoing in front of her.

Fen raised a shaking hand to her chest. The words of the Fairy Queen echoed in her mind. The power flowed through her. It was the only guidance she had, the lessons from the Kings and Queens before her.

"Your -- Acting -- Majesty," Tick said, as he walked into the room, papers in hand, "we need--"

"Stop that," Fen said as she rose to her feet, her mouth pursed into a determined frown. She took a step toward him, the train of her long jacket trailing behind her on the floor. "I am no longer the acting High King, I _am_ the High King."

Tick looked terribly unimpressed, "But--"

"But nothing. If High King Margo returns, the crown is hers, but we haven't heard anything from her in months. There are no records from anyone of her whereabouts. She bestowed the crown to me in her absence. This has gone on far too long. We have to assume she is dead."

"When the talking animals hear of this--"

"Nothing of High King Margo's policies with the animals has changed," Fen replied. Her hands were no longer shaking. Her voice was stronger. "I can speak to Humbledrum directly if that's what's required for their understanding."

"With all due respect, _Acting_ High King--" Tick tried, but was once again cut off.

Fen took a step closer to him, and when he had seemed so intimidating before, sarcastic and conniving, he now seemed small, shrinking in her presence. "Isn't this what you wanted, Tick? A true Fillorian on the throne? Or did you only want to see yourself there?"

"Yes," Tick replied immediately, and then quickly amended, "No. Your Majesty."

Fen lifted her chin. "You can come back with your matter after I've eaten. Spread the word, all of it. If there's even an air of ill intent, I will not be as kind to you as my husband was."

He took a long look at her, probably sizing her up for weaknesses, but when he apparently saw none, he turned and left the room.

Alone, Fen crumbled to the floor. A sob shook through her entire body, catching hard and painfully in her throat. It was the right thing to do, but accepting the position meant accepting their deaths. Any threads to a life on Earth had passed her. She was a widow. She was alone.

Tears streaming down her face, she looked up at the sunlight pouring in through the windows, so bright it was almost white.

She would survive. She would rule.


End file.
